Engineer - Transmission Relay Protection & Controls (New Orleans, LA). Plan, maintain & design engin‐ring, project mgmt, constructn & operatns activities rel to restoratn. Perform grid/syst design, operatns & maint, plan, asset mgmt, reliability, comp apps, safety & root cause failure analys. Bach in Elect Engring or rel field. 2 yrs' exp in elect engring, incl solid exp in each: power syst plan & protectn principles; elect schematic design. Familiarity with: PowerWorld; Re‐newable Energy Integratn & Optimizatn (REopt); Syst Advisor Model (SAM); MATLAB; Mathcad. Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously; analyze & interpret power syst data incl stability studies. Excel written & verbal commun skills. Must send
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The long history of cannabis legalization in Louisiana 15 For more than 50 years, the Krewe of Dreux has done Mardi Gras their own way 21 First hit: New Orleans’ PxMxWx were weed rap pioneers
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The Book of Big Freedia
Big Freedia turns to gospel roots on ‘Pressing Onward’
BEFORE BECOMING THE QUEEN OF BOUNCE, BEFORE REALITY TV SHOWS, setting twerking records, releasing massive songs with Beyonce and touring the world, Big Freedia was Freddie Ross, dressed in polished shoes and his Sunday best and singing in a church choir.
Big Freedia’s godmother was the choir director at Pressing Onward Baptist Church on Danneel Street in Central City, and she got the young Freedia involved, the bounce artist recently told NPR. Freedia went on to become an assistant choir director at the church, sang in the school choir at Walter L. Cohen High School and performed with the Gospel Soul Children Choir.
“That was my foundation,” Freedia said to Gambit. “The choir helped me get ready for the stage. I was doing gospel back then, and it definitely prepared me for where I am currently, to be able to be on stage and have the confidence to sing out in public.”
Freedia has now returned to her church roots with the new album, “Pressing Onward,” a joyous gospel record full of praise for the Almighty and urging listeners to find light amid difficult times. The album — which is dedicated to Freedia’s late partner of 20 years, Devon Hurst — is now out on streaming platforms and on vinyl through Freedia’s website.
For countless New Orleans musicians, especially in the Black community, the church is where music lessons began.
“A lot of times our parents pushed us to be in church back then,” Freedia says. “You could not not go to church. Your mama, your grandmother would push you into church. It was a thing that Black families had to do. That was our safe haven. That was our way of giving God glory. I would be at church sometimes five times [during] the week.”
Although Freedia made her career as a bounce artist, first starting out as a backup dancer for Katey Red before beginning to release her own music in 1999, gospel music and artists like Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams and Shirley Caesar have remained close to Freedia’s heart. And her faith has helped her through difficult times, including the loss of her mother in 2014 and her brother in 2018.
When Hurst passed away earlier this year, due to complications from diabetes, Freedia again turned to her faith, she says. “It’s been the hardest last two months of my life, but keeping God first
by Jake Clapp |
and keeping God all over this project is the only way I’ve been able to survive and get through.”
Freedia has for years wanted to take on a gospel record, she says. In 2023, she traveled to Joshua Tree and wrote 50 songs in five days, and from those sessions came the exuberant track “Celebration,” which appears on “Pressing Onward” with a feature by pop artist Dawn Richard. Before she left Joshua Tree, Freedia told her manager her next project would be the gospel album. Many of the songs on the 14-track “Pressing Onward,” feature Freedia backed by a powerful choir as she raps, sings and leads the revival. While the album is rooted in familiar gospel traditions, there’s a lot of bounce as well as hip-hop, contemporary R&B and funk. Actor and vocalist Billy Porter appears on the buoyant “Holy Shuffle” and Tamar Braxton joins Freedia on “Sunday Best,”
a swaggering song about being sure to dress to impress when you head to church.
And K. Michelle finds rock-solid strength in God on the track “Queens Testimony.”
Supported by beats and bass, “Pressing Onward” is full of dance music. Like King David in the Old Testament, Freedia wants listeners to “dance before the Lord.”
“Dancing is a big part of spirituality, especially in Black churches,” Freedia says. “They would call it ‘shouting’ or ‘(catching) the Holy Ghost,’ but their feet get to moving and their hands get shaking. Before you know it, they’re stretched out on the floor.”
While the physical church played a large part in Freedia’s upbringing, “Pressing Onward” makes it clear that a building or a deacon preaching at you isn’t necessary. “The love we have been seeking / Is higher than the ceiling,” the choir sings on the track “Church.”
Spirituality is personal and fluid — especially for members of the LGBTQ community who historically have been pushed away from churches by people using the Bible to justify their prejudices. For Freedia, a gay man who has long challenged gender norms, uses fluid pronouns and is a LGBTQ icon, God’s love is open to everyone.
“A lot of people wasn’t accepted at their church, like I was. A lot of people just wasn’t accepted in that world,” Freedia says. “So the Big Freedia revival, everybody is welcome. Black, white, gay, straight, you can have a moment to be able to connect back with your God into your higher power. The state of the world we’re in right now, people need some type of happiness brought back into their lives. This album is also a healing for me.”
Find “Pressing Onward” on streaming platforms and at bigfreedia.com.
Young Jeezy
Rapper Young Jeezy already had a couple of independent releases under his belt when Def Jam released his label debut “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101” in 2005. It catapulted Jeezy into the mainstream, and the album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The forerunner of trap music is celebrating the album’s 20th anniversary this year with shows backed by an orchestra. Jeezy with the Color of Noize Orchestra plays at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Saenger Theatre. Tickets start at $315 via saengernola.com.
Fishbone
Los Angeles band Fishbone has always bubbled right under the surface of mainstream notice during its 45-plus-year career, but fans of the band have never cared about hits. Fishbone’s mix of rock, funk and ska punk has always been hot, and with their social justice-focused mentality, they’ve built a loyal following that’s always ready to dance. Fishbone, with original members Angelo Moore and Christopher Dowd, released its latest album, “Stockholm Syndrome,” in June and it’s an album built for this political moment. Fishbone plays the House of Blues at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. Ska punk band Bad Operation opens. Tickets are $31.90 via houseofblues.com.
Lost in the ’80s
There was all sorts of popular music in the 1980s, but MTV and videos helped propel some bands and some looks, like the big hair and synthesizers of “A Flock of Seagulls.” MTV also helped popularize quirky songs, like The Vapors’ “Turning Japanese” and Josie Cotton’s “Johnny Are You Queer.” The Lost in the ’80s tour features those bands and others, including Scottish import Big Country and British alt-rockers General Public, as well as China Crisis, Icicle Works, Belouis
PHOTO BY DMITRIY PRITYKIN / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Big Freedia
PROVIDED PHOTO BY HUNTER HOLDER
THUMBS UP/ THUMBS DOWN
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyhas awarded $1.5 million to the Lincoln Beach redevelopment project as part of the EPA’s Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program. The city will use the funds on measures that protect the shoreline and support natural habitats and ecosystems around the beach. New Orleans is in the process of redeveloping and re-opening the historic beach, which served Black families in New Orleans during the Jim Crow era.
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NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS
Puf Puf Pass
New Orleans mayoral candidates talk jobs, afordable housing and LGBTQ rights at YLC forum
Louisiana is looking to have the state’s university system join a new, alternative accrediting body for Southern universities and colleges, the Louisiana Illuminator reported. State university systems in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas started the Commission for Public Higher Education as a new accreditor on higher education — because conservative politicians dislike standards around diversity, equity and inclusion and the safeguards against external influences.
Just before this issue went to print, Arthur Hunter dropped out of the Mayor’s race.
THE FOUR LEADING CANDIDATES TO BECOME NEW ORLEANS’ NEXT MAYOR vowed to stick up for marginalized communities, as well as expand economic opportunity and affordable housing at an Aug. 5 Young Leadership Council forum at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market.
Democratic candidates Royce Duplessis, Arthur Hunter, Helena Moreno and Oliver Thomas fielded an array of questions posed by various nonprofit leaders focused on challenges facing young professionals, families and vulnerable populations — including the city’s shrinking population.
people can actually really stay and live in the city.”
Moreno said she was looking at strategies implemented by cities like Austin, Texas, which has been repurposing publicly owned properties into affordable housing developments.
She said she was considering similar initiatives for New Orleans, which has more than 370 empty parcels of cityowned land, in addition to over 70 physical structures owned by the city.
“We should be doing all things possible to put those city properties, which we are not using, into commerce,” she said. “The best utilization of those city properties is to make them into affordable housing.”
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy supported President Donald Trump’s move to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a recent jobs report showed weak growth in July. Economists are sounding the alarm that the political firing will mean unreliable data in the future, but Cassidy, who is up for re-election, and his three Republican challengers have issued statements supporting Trump.
New Orleans City Council Vice President Helena Moreno said she has been examining the way other cities have navigated the affordable housing crisis, which is a nationwide issue.
“Home affordability is one of the reasons why people are moving out of our city. It’s such a problem it’s pushing people out,” she said. “New Orleans is at a tipping point, and the next mayor is going to be the determining factor on whether or not
Thomas, also a city council member, said he plans to partner with organizations and real estate agents to help make the home buying more accessible to first responders, teachers, law enforcement and other public service workers.
He also wants to “reprogram” Community Development Block Grants to fund soft second mortgages, which help low-income borrowers close the gap between home prices and available loans.
10,600
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF LOUISIANA PATIENTS WHO ACCESSED PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN THE LAST YEAR ALONE.
But the two clinics, which are located in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, are being forced to shut down at the end of September after losing federal funding. The closures are one of the latest attacks on reproductive rights and have been fueled by disinformation surrounding the abortion debate. Louisiana’s Planned Parenthood clinics have never provided abortions, but they have provided cancer screenings, STI tests and treatments, contraception and other resources for women of all ages, regardless of insurance status.
is your preferred way to consume
Thomas said he’s also exploring ways to attract young professionals 11.8%
Royce Duplessis, Arthur Hunter, Helena Moreno and Oliver Thomas share their plans for New Orleans’ future at a Young Leadership Council forum Aug. 5, 2025.
PHOTO BY SARAH RAVITS / GAMBIT
in New Orleans
GR AB LIFE BY THECLAW, NOL A!
OPENING GAMBIT
to the city in a more sustainable manner. “We have to create an economic foundation in this community that builds on entrepreneurial plans and grows our middle class,” he said.
Not all candidates answered the same questions; instead, the forum was structured so that each question was answered by two candidates, with participants rotating throughout the event.
Duplessis, a state senator and New Orleans native who moved back home after a stint in Washington, D.C., said he related to the quality-of-life concerns because he was raised in a working-class family and is now a young professional raising a child.
All candidates said they would prioritize protecting the city’s most vulnerable populations if elected.
Hunter, a former police officer, lawyer and judge, said he was focused on crime prevention and helping young people turn their lives around.
People should “be on track to services and treatment” for nonviolent crimes, he said. Much of his previous work has focused on getting to the root of problems and finding solutions outside of incarceration.
Earlier that day, Duplessis was endorsed by several New Orleans trailblazers, including former mayor Sidney Barthelemy, former lawmaker Louis Charbonnet, and former Justice Bernette Johnson, the first Black woman on the Louisiana State Supreme Court.
Moreno, a former investigative journalist who later served as a state representative before she became a council member, also highlighted her policymaking experience.
“There were pieces of (state) legislation that people thought would never get passed about protecting women, protecting victims of domestic violence and protecting victims of sexual assault, that people thought were impossible,” she said. “But I got those done because I built coalitions.”
Following the event, Carolyn O’Donnell, a resident of Mid-City who works in the nonprofit sector, said all four candidates clearly understand the challenges ahead.
O’Donnell said she hopes the next administration prioritizes fixing the city’s infrastructure. She also wants to see a leader who will push back against politicians who are targeting LGBTQ people and rolling back reproductive rights.
“I came in leaning for (Moreno),” she said, but added that she also admires Duplessis’ legislative record.
“For me, those are absolutely the top two candidates: Helena Moreno first and then Royce Duplessis, second. I felt they articulated the issues most realistically,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alma Luna, a Gentilly resident and a consultant, said her preferred candidate so far is Duplessis. She says he seems to understand hardships of being a young professional in the city.
“I love that he’s born and raised here, and he’s also young and has a lot of great policies that I stand behind,” she said. — Sarah Ravits
New Orleans mayoral candidates discuss crime, new second line requirements at forum
THE TOP FOUR CONTENDERS TO BE NEW ORLEANS’ NEXT MAYOR vowed to reduce crime through expanding youth programming, mental health care and other resources at an Aug. 4 Silence is Violence forum at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church.
Unlike the previous forums so far, which were front loaded with candidate statements and Q&A sessions, Monday’s forum began with speeches from two parents who’d lost their sons to gun violence.
The issue affects so many families in the city that Constanza Porche told the more than 100 people at the forum she ended up paying for two caskets because another woman, who she’d never met and had lost her son around the same time, had found out her son’s funeral wouldn’t be covered by insurance.
Because she was able to help another grieving mother, “my son’s life was not taken in vain,” Porche said.
Some of the candidates opened up about their personal experiences with gun violence and grief.
State Sen. Royce Duplessis said Silence is Violence, which provides resources to survivors and families affected by gun violence, helped him in 2020 when his cousin killed his uncle during a mental health episode.
“We weren’t just victims, but we also had love for the defendant,” he said. “So we were at the crossroads of the justice system, not knowing where to go.”
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Council Member Oliver Thomas also drew on his own experience with grief.
“When you experience like my family, a year, when we averaged ... 300 to 400 murders, when you bury three or four of your own blood, people wonder why we’re numb to it,” he said, adding “silence may be violence, but violence is loud, and it haunts us in our sleep and our family reunions and picnics.”
not working with the mayor. He said he started his political career 20 years ago as chief of staff to former Council Member James Carter. After five men were gunned down on the corner of Daneel and Josephine, the council formed the Criminal Justice Committee, which Carter chaired.
“The mayor didn’t always agree with the council, and the council didn’t always agree with the mayor. But you know what we did? We worked together.”
Council Vice President Helena Moreno said she’d lost friends and loved ones with substance abuse issues, focusing on her track record of legislation on substance abuse, mental health and domestic violence. That included allowing police officers and firefighters to carry Narcan, a medication for reversing drug overdoses, and decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips so people can test their drugs.
“So we keep people alive, but at the same time, jail cannot be the only option for people who have mental health and substance abuse issues,” she said.
Thomas, Duplessis and Hunter continued to flex their New Orleansborn status in a not-so-subtle at Moreno, who was born in Mexico, moved to Texas as a child and has lived in New Orleans for more than two decades.
The primary for the mayor’s race is Oct. 11. — Kaylee Poche
City Council overrides veto of New Orleans home rule charter vote
August 8-10
Marinaded filet mignon steaksandwich with sautéed onions mushroomsmelted blue cheese andfried onion stringson poboybreadwith fries
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Retired judge Arthur Hunter said as a police officer he arrested a lot of young people, but that as a criminal court judge, through his reentry court, when he sent them to prison, they could come back with a GED and skilled in a trade.
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Friedoyster club sandwich with basilaioli bacon, lettuce, tomato on sour dough with fries
lobstermac and cheese dinner
Marinadedchilled lobstersalad inside freshavocado over spring mix with redonions andtomato
STEAKNIGHT EVERYWEDNESDAY $35 3COURSES+MARTINI
Meanwhile, candidates were also asked about other issues, including new NOPD rules for second lines. Unsurprisingly, all of the candidates said they believed communication between second line clubs, police and city leaders needs to improve.
Thomas said several years ago there was a police officer who was clearly oblivious to the city’s culture and asked a chief on Super Sunday why he was wearing an “Indian costume,” which prompted Thomas to convene a meeting between second line groups and NOPD.
“There are too many people in the city that are making sure decisions about the culture who don’t understand the culture,” he said.
Moreno said the new requirements, which would include higher insurance and other costs, were given to clubs without warning and are “completely unacceptable” and noted the council would address the issue at its Aug. 7 meeting. She also said the city has treated second lines unfairly.
Though the forum was still friendly, Duplessis continued his criticism of the current council for
THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL AUG. 7 OVERRODE Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s veto of a plan to allow voters to weigh in on a proposed home rule charter change barring the city attorney from representing either the mayor or council in cases between the two branches of the government.
The override was made by a unanimous vote of the council.
Under the Cantrell administration, the city attorney’s office has often operated as her attorney in disputes with the City Council. The current city attorney, Donesia Turner, is a close ally of Cantrell.
Cantrell vetoed the underlying ordinance authorizing a vote on the charter amendment Aug. 1. At the time, Cantrell claimed that allowing citizens to vote on changing the charter actually violated the charter – which is not accurate. The charter gives the council the ability to authorize a vote on changing the charter, which it has used multiple times.
“An amendment to the charter cannot violate the charter since the amendment is actually changing the charter,” council President JP Morrell said prior to the override.
The amendment is part of a broader set of government reforms proposed by the nonpartisan City Services Coalition. — John Stanton
@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake, A recent social media post from the Jefferson Parish Recreation Department mentioned the Johnny Jacobs Pool was temporarily closed for repairs. Who is, or was, Johnny Jacobs?
Dear reader,
Toddlers enjoy Claudette B. Fennidy Splash Pad at Johnny Jacobs Playground
THE JOHNNY JACOBS JR. PLAYGROUND AND ITS POOL , located on Fifth Avenue in Marrero, are named for a longtime West Bank business owner and community activist known for much of his life as “Mr. Marrero.”
Jacobs was born in Vacherie in 1920 and lived in Marrero from 1921 until his death in 1997. According to The Times-Picayune, he was a former Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputy and member of the West Bank Black Caucus and the Jefferson Parish Voters League, which helped organize voter registration efforts. He also was a leader of the Marrero Action Committee, a group formed to organize, build and maintain recreational facilities in Marrero. He was instrumental in getting land donated for the Marrero Action Playground.
1, 2024.
“He always wanted a place for kids to play that wasn’t in the street,” his daughter Lorraine told the newspaper in 1998. “He would always worry that someone would get hit by a car or something like that.”
In 1998, the Jefferson Parish Council voted to change the name of the Marrero Action Playground to the Johnny Jacobs Jr. Playground. It was dedicated in March of that year.
Four years later, a $1.4 million pool opened at the playground. Last year, a new splash pad opened there as well, named for Claudette B. Fennidy, who owned and operated a childcare center nearby.
THIS WEEK WE CONTINUE OUR LOOK AT SOME OF THE 29 LOCAL MUSEUMS taking part in New Orleans Museum Month. Through the end of August, if you currently have or purchase a membership to a participating museum, you and a guest can visit any or all of the other museums for free. Art lovers, for example, can visit the New Orleans Museum of Art, Contemporary Arts Center, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and StudioBE.
The New Orleans Museum of Art opened in City Park in 1911 with just nine works of art. It was originally known as the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, named after its original benefactor whose name also graces Delgado Community College nearby. Delgado’s initial gift of $150,000 helped establish the museum.
Today, NOMA has nearly 50,000 works of art in its permanent collection, including particular strengths in French, American, African and Japanese art, as well as photography and glass.
The Contemporary Arts Center is located at 900 Camp St., in the former headquarters of the K&B drugstore chain. When the company moved its offices in 1976, K&B chairmanand CEO Sydney Besthoff III, a major arts patron, donated the building to a group of young artists who establishedthe CAC.
It is located just steps away from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Established in 1999 with a donation of more than 600 works from the private collection of local businessman and philanthropist Roger Ogden, the collection has grown to more than 4,000 pieces. Artists from 15 southern states are represented.
StudioBE, located at 2941 Royal St., was established in 2016 by popular New Orleans artist Brandan “BMike” Odums. The 36,000-square-foot gallery offers space for local artists, as well as exhibitions, workshops and events, including for Eternal Seeds, the nonprofit group Odums established in 2020 to serve young and emerging artists and culture bearers.
BLAKE VIEW
in Marrero after a ribbon cutting on Oct.
PHOTO BY BLAKE PATERSON / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
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Louisiana has a long, complicated history with cannabis greenuptangled in
gIVEN HOW PERVASIVE cannabis is in New Orleans, it can sometimes be hard to believe the city was once at the forefront of efforts to make marijuana illegal.
“New Orleans was one of the first cities in the country to ban marijuana,” said Kevin Caldwell, Southeast Legislative Manager of the Marijuana Policy Project.
That kicked off more than a century of a racially fueled period of prohibition, not only in New Orleans but across all of Louisiana. Combined with the state’s conservative political leanings and the power of local law enforcement, it has put Louisiana well behind other states which have begun relaxing marijuana laws.
“Since we helped kick off a century of ‘reefer madness’ — along with all of the social justice and health consequences that have come with it — I tell our local legislators that it is Louisiana’s moral imperative to help push the country back in the other direction,” Caldwell said.
Even as other states were legalizing medical and recreational use of cannabis products, it wasn’t until Bernard Noble was arrested in 2010 that reforming the state’s laws started to pick up in earnest.
Noble at the time was 44 years old and the father of seven children. He was born and raised in New Orleans but relocated after Hurricane Katrina to Kansas City, where he started a small business cooking and selling Cajun food.
One October afternoon, Noble, who is Black, was in New Orleans to pick up meat when the police stopped him. They found that he was carrying less than three
BY MATTHEW HAINES
grams of marijuana, or barely enough for a joint and a half. He said he used marijuana to stay calm and alleviate anxiety in social situations.
Noble later said he wasn’t too worried because of the small amount he was carrying. But this was not his first time being caught with a small quantity of weed, and as a result, the state of Louisiana was able to impose a tougher penalty.
“I think there are tough penalties and then there are obscene penalties,” Caldwell said. “This one was worse than obscene.”
The sentence for Noble was more than 13 years of hard labor.
Caldwell said Noble’s case mobilized people to fight for a cause they normally wouldn’t pay attention to. For example, while New Orleans’ faith-based community had previously held to the idea that “all drugs are bad,” Noble’s case felt like the unfair sentencing of another Black man and opened many people to the idea that the
decriminalization of marijuana was a social justice issue.
Even some Republican representatives, historically against any decriminalization efforts, began to see the issue in a different light.
“One state senator told me, ‘If these kinds of arrests were happening to white kids from Uptown the way they were happening to Black boys from New Orleans East, decriminalization would have already happened,” Caldwell said.
“Something needs to change.”
RISE AND FALL AS A MEDICINE
IN JULY 1846 a Massachusetts doctor used a solution made from cannabis Indica, or Indian hemp, to cure a 16-year-old boy suffering from lockjaw. Likewise, in 1866 — in the middle of a devastating city-wide cholera epidemic that had claimed 1,200 lives in that year alone – cannabis Indica was introduced in New Orleans and marked as a cure.
Just a few years later in 1869, a French pharmaceutical company
named Grimault & Co., along with their New Orleans-based agent at 39 Chartres Street, began running a years-long series of ads that included multiple medicinal uses for cannabis: “Asthma, Oppression, Dyspnea. Indian Cigarettes of Cannabis Indica. Recent experiments in France, England and Germany have proved that these Cigarettes are a sovereign remedy for the above distressing affections, especially when belladona, stramonium and opium have failed to give relief.”
By the end of the century, however, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States was standardizing.
“Americans in the 19th century didn’t have the concept of legal drugs versus illegal drugs like we do today,” said Adam Rathge, author of “Cannabis Cures: American Medicine, Mexican Marijuana, and the Origins of the War on Weed, 1840-1937.”
“Rather, they saw every drug as being both a helpful medicine and a
PHOTO BY ED ANDRIESKI / THE AP
dangerous poison, depending on how — and in what quantity — it was being used,” Rathge added.
What Louisianians did feel at the turn of the century, according to Rathge, was a growing sense that consumers needed increased protection from certain substances.
This doubt crept in just as the creation of standardized drugs, such as aspirin in 1897, gave Americans the confidence that many of their medical conditions could be dealt with in a more measured and consistent way.
FALLING OUT OF FAVOR
THE CONCLUSION OF THIS PUSH toward consumer protection and medicinal standardization was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which had a significant impact on how cannabis was regulated and perceived. As a result, in Louisiana and across the country, medicine companies had to accurately label their products with contents.
“Cannabis was being lumped in on the labels with more harmful and addictive drugs like opium, morphine, and cocaine,” Rathge said. “This resulted in Americans losing faith in the medicinal effects of marijuana. Doctors stopped recommending the drug and it disappeared from most pharmacies and medical journals.” Louisiana helped to lead the charge toward marijuana regulation at this time. One year before the national Act passed, Louisiana was listed in a bulletin from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as one of 29 states with statewide “poison laws” specifically mentioning cannabis, and one of only eight states or territories where a prescription was required to purchase a medicine containing the drug.
The effort to push marijuana underground in Louisiana and across the country appeared to have worked. In New Orleans, during the 1910s, the drug largely fell out of the public consciousness.
In the 1920s, however, cannabis would storm back into public view. And, for the next two decades, the Crescent City would be center stage in an emerging fight over what many deemed a cannabis epidemic.
THE “MARIJUANA MENACE”
BEGINNING IN THE 1920S and lasting through the 1930s, New Orleans was considered a cradle of marijuana use in America. Modern day articles abound — such as Diana Trimble’s piece for The Emerald Magazine titled, "The Unsung Mother of American Cannabis Culture" — that place New Orleans at the movement’s forefront.
How exactly cannabis reentered the Louisiana mainstream remains open to debate. Some have suggested the drug came to the states closest to the southern border after the Mexican Revolution of 1910 resulted in a wave of immigrants into the U.S. Others insist the return of marijuana to New Orleans was the result of the city’s status as a major port.
“Certainly the port aspect was a big part of it,” Rathge explained. “Though it’s hard to say whether the majority of cannabis arriving was coming from Mexico or coming from Caribbean islands like Jamaica.”
Whereas cannabis of the 19th century was most frequently ingested in liquid form like a cough syrup, the preferred method of the 1920s was the smokeable form.
“What appeared to be unique to New Orleans was that the city had
more smokeable cannabis than elsewhere in the U.S.,” he added, “and marijuana in a smokeable form was already popular in both Mexico and Jamaica.”
Another unique factor in New Orleans was the dramatic uptick in crime. A number of those criminals appeared to be young white boys, which sent city officials searching for a culprit.
In August 1920, Dr. Oscar Dowling, president of the Louisiana State Board of Health, wrote to Gov. John Parker about this “powerful narcotic, causing exhilaration, intoxication, and delirious hallucinations.” Alarmed, Parker wrote Federal Prohibition Commissioner John Kramer to notify him that “two people were killed a few days ago by the smoking of this drug, which seems to make them go crazy wild.”
Regardless of who or what was to blame for the rise of youth crime in the city, responsibility was placed primarily at the feet of Mexican immigrants and their “marihuana.”
During the early 1920s, it was common to find local newspaper articles connecting cannabis with Mexicans and youth crime, bubbling into what was known as the “Marijuana Menace.” And City Commissioner Paul Maloney was quoted as calling the drug, “Mexican happy smoke” when, in May 1923, he introduced an ordinance calling for both the citywide possession and sale of it to be banned.
On May 29, 1923, New Orleans became one of the first cities in the United States to ban marijuana. And in the weeks that followed the city’s prohibition ordinance, police raids got to work rounding up both users and sellers across New Orleans. According to Rathge, there were 225 documented arrests between 1923 and the end of the decade.
Cannabis usage was even across race, but a racist narrative began to take shape that much of the illegal use of marijuana was centered around New Orleans’ Storyville district and among the city’s Black jazz musicians.
It is true many of the city’s musicians used cannabis, but there were plenty of untruths being pedaled about them. And perhaps no one was telling more despicable lies than Harry Ainslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who used the “Marijuana Menace’ and New Orleans’ charismatic Black musicians as a way to scare white Americans and drum up support — as well as a budget — for his new department.
LOUISIANA PUSHES BACK
ANSLINGER’S STRATEGY worked. In 1936, the film “Reefer Madness” was produced, using misleading
information to scare parents about the perceived dangers of cannabis. The following year, Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act, drafted by Anslinger himself, which used taxation to make the use of cannabis virtually impossible for most people.
Over the next 40 years, attacks on cannabis would go through waves: Restrictions were relaxed in the ’40s as farmers grew hemp during World War II. Then cannabis was back in the crosshairs in the ’50s before Democratic administrations in the ’60s and the hippy movement pushed a softer approach.
But the election of Richard Nixon again brought the War on Drugs and another crackdown. Cannabis was listed as a Schedule I drug — where it remains today — meaning the federal government believes it has no accepted medical benefits and that it has the highest potential for abuse.
This is where Louisiana reenters the spotlight.
“We were really a leader in the country on this one,” said Tony Guarisco, now 86 years old, and a politician who served in the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 1988, “and I was the one leading the effort in the state. I was the OG.”
During Guarisco’s early years in the state senate, a report by the Shafer Commission determined that marijuana was not the dangerous drug it was said to be and should be placed in a lower schedule. At the same time the hippies of the 1960s had become the working professionals of the 1970s with the ability and influence to push back against harsh administration policies.
“I saw that these young adults were getting massive sentences for this ‘crime’ with no victims and the penalties were unjustly ruining their lives,” Guarisco said. “And I also was hearing stuff about marijuana maybe having some medical properties that could help people.”
Then in 1978, Guarisco was visited by the mother of a child with cancer. No legal medicine was helping the child — but cannabis was helping ease his pain.
“She told me that whether the state passed a law or not, she was going to continue to give him marijuana because she would do anything to help her son,” he said. “But she wanted to do it legally and she asked me to please make sure the [medical marijuana] law passed.”
CANNABIS IN 21ST CENTURY LOUISIANA
GUARISCO, JUST A THIRD-YEAR SENATOR at the time, was able to honor the woman’s wishes. Facing
pressure from a powerful coalition of the state’s sheriffs and district attorneys, he sponsored and passed a bill in July 1978 allowing patients suffering from cancer and glaucoma to receive a medical marijuana prescription.
“I’m not sure if we were first, second, or third,” Guarisco said, “but Louisiana was right up at the top — one of the first states in the country to create a medical marijuana program.”
Or so Guarisco thought. His law called for the establishment of a state medical board to certify participating physicians, pharmacies, and patients. Governor Edwin Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Health, however, never created that medical board.
“I was naive, I guess,” Guarisco said. “I passed the bill and I thought we had made a difference. But it was obvious that was the opponents’ plan all along, to create a law with no teeth.”
The 1980s saw the Reagan administration double down on the War on Drugs, adding lifetime sentences for repeat offenders. In 1991, another Louisiana law similar to Guarisco’s passed, but to the same effect: there
was no mechanism to grow and distribute the cannabis.
So, as states and cities across the country legalized marijuana for medical use in the 1990s, decriminalized it for recreational use in the early 2000s, and even — in a few cases like Colorado and Washington — legalized it for recreational use in the 2010s, Louisiana was stuck with archaic rules dating back to the previous century.
“States across the country were moving forward while Louisiana was still giving Bernard Noble 13 years in prison for less than three ounces of weed,” said Caldwell of the Marijuana Policy Project. “It was totally absurd.”
But, just as Noble’s case helped open a conversation that led to the softening of statewide penalties for marijuana possession by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal in 2015, and its eventual decriminalization by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2021, it took the bravery of Alison Neustrom, a mother from Lafayette, to finally get Louisiana’s decades-long fight for a medical marijuana program across the finish line.
The Abney Effect plays at the 2019 NOLA Cannabis Festival.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL DEMOCKER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE
ALISON NEUSTROM’S ACT
NEUSTROM WAS SUFFERING from pancreatic cancer and discovered that cannabis could help relieve some of her most aggressive symptoms and discomfort. As the Louisiana senate once again debated the merits of a statewide medical marijuana program, Neustrom testified about her terminal illness and how medical marijuana could provide comfort to her and so many other suffering patients.
“Alison also happened to be the daughter of a popular Lafayette Parish sheriff,” said Caldwell. “When she testified, and then passed away in 2014 before cannabis was legalized, I think it really hit home for the state’s politicians that a medical marijuana program would help a whole lot of Louisianians.”
A new medical marijuana law, the Alison Neustrom Act, was passed in 2015. This time, as opposed to previous attempts, university partners at LSU and Southern University were approved to grow the plant, doctors were approved to recommend the drug to patients, and a system of dispensaries were licensed to distribute the medicinal product once it was ready.
When, in 2019, the first nine dispensaries finally opened in Louisiana, former state senator Tony Guarisco was at the literal front of the line, but not just for symbolic reasons. He was now suffering from glaucoma, and his doctor believed cannabis could help.
“I felt extreme pride and so vindicated,” he said, “that Louisianians were finally getting the treatment they deserved after so long.”
Louisiana lawmakers responded the following year by in turn legalizing hemp and hemp-derived compounds, and by establishing a regulatory system for the production and sale of cannabinoids derived from hemp. In 2021, the legislature took a step further, legalizing food and beverage products derived from consumable hemp if approved by the Louisiana Department of Health.
That is when Eric Becker, a lawyer and consultant in the cannabis industry began paying attention to what was happening in the state. For several years, Becker had been living in Louisiana, but was working in states with more cannabis-friendly laws.
“It suddenly and unexpectedly got very interesting in Louisiana,” he explained.
While most states simply followed the 2018 Farm Bill and took hemp off the list of controlled substances with little thought of what their next steps should be, Louisiana was one of the first states to implement actual product-level rules around what could be sold and consumed.
hangover reasons, don’t want to drink beer,” he said, “but they still want to be able to drink something to chill out and unwind after work.”
THC filled that gap, and its quickly expanding availability was a big part of that.
“The soccer mom crowd, which is a big part of brewery business, wanted an alternative, but they didn’t want to do something that maybe feels weird like going to a dispensary or smoking something,” Landry said. “THC-infused drinks are perfect for them. They can drink it at our brewery or even grab it off the shelf at Rouses to bring home. It feels good to people and we’re seeing that in our sales.”
BATTLE LINES FORMING
NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY about the expanding presence of consumable hemp in Louisiana. During the 2024 legislative session, a bill was proposed that many feared would kill the industry.
The man behind Guarisco in line was a Vietnam War veteran suffering from his own pain. When he learned about the former senator’s role so many decades ago, the man kissed Guarisco on the forehead.
"He told me, 'Thank you,'" Guarisco said, "and that meant a lot to me."
CANNABIS FOR THE SOCCER MOMS
IN LESS THAN A DECADE, the state of Louisiana leaped from some of the most archaic and strict marijuana laws in the country to the decriminalization of recreational-use marijuana and a functioning medical marijuana program.
More change was still to come during that period, however. The passage of the United States’ 2018 Farm Bill, which included the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, was about to introduce a series of entirely new products that would have a major effect on the local marketplace.
The act removed hemp from the federal list of controlled substances, now defining it differently than marijuana even though it comes from the same cannabis plant. Moving forward, hemp would be defined as cannabis with less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol, or delta-9-THC. The Farm Bill allowed for the production of hemp as an agricultural commodity, something that it had been considered for centuries before the War on Drugs, and it granted farmers new access to federal programs and services.
While Becker said it was a big step to have any rules on the books for a potential consumable hemp industry, he acknowledged those initial regulations were not particularly friendly. The 2021 law only allowed products with CBD, a cannabinoid like TLC with potential therapeutic benefits, but lacking the psychoactive effects of THC that get users “high.” That year, some edibles like gummies were added to the previously allowable tinctures and capsules.
But in 2022, the state’s consumable hemp industry took another big step forward. That summer, lawmakers changed the legal age for consumable hemp from 18 to 21, but they also permitted the use of up to 8 mg of THC per serving in edibles and beverages.
“Louisiana had one of the most impressive regulatory structures in the country with a statewide product registry and permitting system,” Becker said. “And clear rules. It felt like a great place to start a consumable hemp business.”
By 2023, he co-founded Louie Louie, a THC-infused beverage company based in New Orleans. Because of the state’s early regulatory structure, Louisiana businesses like Louie Louie have gained a competitive advantage on companies from most other states. As a result, Becker’s infused seltzers are sold wholesale beyond Louisiana to states as far away as Arizona, Minnesota, and New York.
Shortly after Louie Louie’s successful launch, Urban South Brewery also began producing THC drinks. For founder and president Jacob Landry, consumable hemp provided an alternative to lagging beer sales.
“In recent years, we’ve noticed a set of customers who for health or
“We were almost eliminated overnight by a coalition of interests all interested in killing consumable hemp,” Landry said. “You had these moral crusaders in the state legislature like Senator Thomas Pressly from Shreveport and Representative Laurie Schlegel from Metairie who think a THC drink should be classified the same as heroin, and they’re teaming up with billionaires from the beer industry or medical marijuana industry, like Boysie Bollinger.”
The belief, according to consumable hemp advocates, is that beer and medical marijuana interests view consumable hemp as a dangerous competitor taking away potential customers.
In the end, with literal minutes left in the legislative session, a compromise was reached that limits the number of servings of THC per package, regulates where the products can be sold, and reduces the dosage to 5 mg per serving.
Meanwhile, there is fear among some that a monopoly or oligopoly is forming in the medical marijuana sector. Last year, LSU and Southern University were pushed to give up their license to grow cannabis. Those licenses were passed to their private sector partners, Good Day Farm and Ilera Holistic Healthcare, who had previously only processed the crop.
Some worry that Good Day Farm, in particular, is becoming too powerful in the industry, cultivating as much as 75% of the state’s cannabis plant and owning a growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state. Bollinger, a major Republican donor, is the company’s primary shareholder, and the company’s president is John Davis, the husband of state Rep. Paula Davis.
Crescent City Therapeutics
PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE
This lack of competition has the potential to hurt medical marijuana consumers by raising prices and limiting quality, but it also hurts smaller hemp farmers by shutting them out of business in the state.
One such farmer is Collin Bercier of Lafayette, Louisiana. His business, Ounce of Hope, sells approximately 150 THC and CBD products via his website.
“I would love nothing more than to do business in my home state, but our regulations make that impossible,” he said. “I had to open my farm in Tennessee instead.”
TRY AND TRY AGAIN
AS MEDICAL MARIJUANA and consumable hemp products both continue to expand throughout Louisiana, advocates for recreational use marijuana hope they can one day achieve the same success.
While marijuana has been decriminalized in the state, some worry that the absence of a legal recreational use system unfairly impacts minority residents. State Representative Candace N. Newell, who represents New Orleans East, says that while studies
show Black and white Louisianians are just as likely to use marijuana, it is Black residents that are most likely to be penalized.
“We have so many people who are in jail for past non-violent marijuana offenses, and who have these crimes on their record,” she said, “I hope one day we can change the law that unfairly hurts these individuals.”
Since 2021, Newell has every year introduced a bill for a recreational-use marijuana pilot program. She said that she hopes a pilot program can show her colleagues that marijuana can be legalized in the state in a responsible way, free from the damaging effects many fear.
So far, her attempts have not been successful. But each year, she said she continues the conversation and tries to learn from both colleagues and her constituents so she can come back with a better bill.
Is she hopeful she can have success during the next legislative session?
“Of course,” Newell said, “I have to have hope. We’ve come so far on the issue of marijuana over the decades, that I can’t imagine our journey ends here. We’ll keep trying until we get it right.”
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For more than 50 years, the Krewe of Dreux has done Mardi Gras its own way
BY SARAH RAVITS
MAC MCCANN’S CARNIVAL TRA-
DITIONS as a kid in the ’90s revolved around the free-spirited traditions of the Krewe of Dreux, a loosely organized group of neighbors in Gentilly, including McCann’s parents and their friends, who bonded over peace, love, music and all the things that enhance it.
Too young at the time to join the adult indulgences, McCann has early memories of their gatherings as warm, welcoming and unpretentious events — a far cry from the old-line, exclusive Carnival organizations in the wealthier parts of town.
“My parents weren’t taking me to St. Charles Avenue,” McCann says. “Dreux was my parents’ friends and family. You see your Uncle Gilbert who comes to the house, and the next thing you know, they put a crown on him — it feels
special. My whole Mardi Gras revolved around that parade.”
McCann’s mom, Colleen, was a bartender and he remembers how uplifting it was to see the working people in her social circle being celebrated like royalty, at least for a day.
The highlight of their Carnival season was Dreux Day, held the Saturday before Fat Tuesday: a THC-laced, roving celebration that can best be described as part psychedelic tailgate party, part DIY neighborhood parade.
McCann never lost his connection to Dreux, and he’d eventually go on to reign in 2019 as the krewe’s youngest king.
For people like McCann who grew up in the krewe, there was always a strong feeling of extended family: It was truly like being raised by a village, with
plenty of cookouts and group dinners, and neighbors who kept their doors unlocked for anyone to drop by.
The grownups also taught the kids important New Orleans life skills, like how to shuck oysters.
“I always say it was like having 10 uncles around,” McCann says.
“It was like a social aid and pleasure club for the neighborhood ... It was like a hippie commune. They were like, ‘We can do Mardi Gras better. We can do it our own way, and everyone can be a part of it.’ It was truly a grassroots beginning.”
NAMED FOR one of the main streets where it parades, the Krewe of Dreux began in 1972, long before McCann was born.
Gentilly during the ’70s was a diverse, middle-class neighborhood, with several dive bars and casual restaurants within walking distance. It was also home to many pot-smoking hippies, musicians and service industry workers who knew how to truly let the good times roll.
The krewe was the brainchild of “Big Dave” Labayen, who bartended with Colleen McCann at The Abbey in the French Quarter and was known for his penchant for indulgence and bringing people together. He’s also the one who convinced the McCanns to move to Gentilly.
According to krewe elders, the first Dreux Day began somewhat spontaneously — a group of Labayen’s friends were gathered at a fourplex and came up with the idea to start a neighborhood parade.
The Krewe of Dreux in its element PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAC MCCANN
A Dreux processional PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAC MCCANN
“The very first Dreux Day was basically a bar crawl,” former krewe captain Jimmy Armstrong said in a 2022 interview for the web series “Tales from the Parade Route.”
“But it went over so well that the next year twice as many people showed up — and it just kept growing. By the ’80s, it had thousands.”
The Bacchus Lounge, a beloved Gentilly bar owned by the late Tank Thorson, served as the krewe’s official “clubhouse” until it was destroyed by the levee failures following Hurricane Katrina. The Bacchus catered to the young residents of the area and was a perfect spot for the krewe to meet up. Located on the corner of St. Roch and Prentiss avenues, it was part of small nightlife hub that included The Golden Cue and Slicky’s Pizza.
Eric Gernhauser, who grew up attending Dreux celebrations, says the scene helped define a big part of “the misspent — or not — portion of my youth.”
Cameron Trenor, owner of The Abbey, says he remembers getting an invite to the celebration in the early ’90s. The krewe would often gather at Miltenberger Park to pre-game before their parade.
“We go to this little park, Big Dave pulls out a joint about two feet long, sits on top of a dumpster, fires it up and passes it around the park,” Trenor told Gambit. “That was my first Dreux experience, and I thought, what a lovely group of people.”
The festivities on Dreux Day traditionally start late on the Saturday morning before Mardi Gras.
Prior to Katrina, it was more akin to a vehicular parade. Members would hand-decorate their pickup trucks and throw their kids in the back before winding through the streets of Gentilly.
Afterward, the adults would disperse and head to local bars or to late-night parties.
and the passing of many of its founding members.
“The krewe’s story is one of resilience of coming back from the worst possible shit,” McCann says.
When Katrina hit, it sent the krewe regulars scattering. Some fled the city altogether and were never able to move back, while others relocated to different neighborhoods.
Krewe of Dreux as they knew it had been permanently altered.
“It’s hard to fully explain the impact of Katrina,” King Dreux XXXIX says.
“Everybody in the neighborhood was forced to leave. It was a great diaspora. The Krewe of Dreux was in the Bywater, Uptown, Slidell and everywhere else.”
In the months following Katrina, the shared ritual of smoking weed offered a small sense of normalcy for the group, whose krewe seal includes a weed leaf.
“On Wednesday nights, we’d gather for the ‘sizzle and burn,’ ” Lafaye says. “We’d have a barbecue and smoke weed.”
Sometimes, that would be in front of the shuttered Bacchus Lounge or in someone’s FEMA trailer.
“Anyone who was in town would come and show up and help each other out,” Lafaye says.
Former captain Armstrong, in the 2022 interview, said the post-Katrina Mardi Gras celebration was certainly one of its most important, even though the number of participants had dwindled.
“We were in a spirit of restitution and restoration, and everyone was tired of all the stuff, and that was the day to enjoy each other and celebrate and convince ourselves we were all going to make it through together,” he said.
That’s remained true, as members have learned to lean on each other during their hard times as much as they do the good ones.
“It was like an expo,” says King Dreux XXXIX, who did not want Gambit to use his real name for professional reasons. He fell in with the krewe in the late ‘90s and later reigned as its king.
“It was a crazy scene,” he says.
OVER THE DECADES, the Krewe of Dreux has solidified its reputation as a krewe that especially loves to party and get stoned.
“Everybody loves to smoke (pot),” says current krewe captain Dee Lafaye. “It’s kinda what has kept us together — we all enjoy the cannabis together.”
But Dreux folks have also endured profound loss and tragedy, including displacement after Hurricane Katrina
Jennifer Callan, who was introduced to the krewe by her late friend Julie Kelley, says she was immediately embraced by the group of rascals and was drawn to it because of its “laid back vibe and sense of camaraderie.”
When Callan’s life partner died of cancer in 2021, her Dreux friends were there to uplift her during her darkest days.
“Dreux rallied around me hard,” she says. “They wrapped their love around me so tightly there was no way I could fall. That’s not the kind of love to be forgotten or dismissed. That’s true love, and because of it, I'm a Dreux loyal for life.”
Part of the krewe’s ethos is that it doesn’t actually have a formal, card-carrying membership. Only a small, core group who are considered
An undated photo of Big Dave Labayen and friends
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAC MCCANN
The late Clarence “Tank” Thorson in front of The Bacchus Lounge
PHOTO BY ERIC GERNHAUSER
An undated photo of a Dreux celebration PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAC MCCANN
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“royalty” pay dues and sell T-shirts to keep up with basic costs and hold meetings to plan the next soiree.
The money mostly goes toward beer, parade permits and paying bands.
“You don’t need no Aunt Kathleen Robichaux to be the Queen of Rex,” McCann says. “You don’t need none of that shit, brah. You don’t have to pay two grand to get a spot on a float. You can just show up with a costume or anything and you’re in it.”
Current King Dreux, Eric Mark, says what ties the group together is “a love of life, a love of a good get-together, love of a party, and a love of helping each other and feeding each other.”
While the krewe is open to all, there is one element that is shrouded in secrecy and mystery: the annual selection of new royalty. Dreux’s kings and queens huddle together to select a new monarchy, which is announced at a midnight potluck at BJ’s Lounge.
“It’s the most disorganized krewe in the best way possible,” King Dreux XXXIX says. “It’s a whirlwind experience for whoever gets tapped.”
The main role of the king and queen is to carry on the freewheeling legacy of its founders, while promoting music, love and peace. That means
hosting parties throughout the year.
“We try to do at least one party a month,” Mark says.
Those parties often have a theme, like monthly astrology parties to celebrate whoever’s birthdays happen to fall during that month. They also host an annual steak night and other spontaneous gatherings all over town.
A recent outing, for example, included some Dreux members getting up at the crack of dawn and waiting in line outside to meet comedian stoner duo Cheech and Chong as they launched their line of THC sodas in New Orleans.
“We’re just an old, close-knit group of friends looking for new ones,” Lafaye says.
Of course, Dreux’s biggest celebration remains open to the public, whether people want to watch the parade from afar or spark up a joint and march alongside them.
“Everybody is welcome to participate in the marching parade,” says King Dreux XXXIX. “Just wear your costume, bring a noisemaker or tambourine or something — everybody’s welcome.”
The procession these days is
Mac McCann dances on a dumpster on Dreux Day PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAC MCCANN
a complicated permitting process, it’s become more of a walking parade. And since there are no bars along the route, revelers mostly imbibe outside in the park.
Usually there’s a DJ, and many people bring their own percussion instruments like drums and washboards.
Around 3 or 3:30 p.m., Dreux begins its roving journey around the neighborhood, circling back into the park and paying its respects to krewe landmarks, like the former site of The Bacchus Lounge and the dumpster where Big Dave used to light up his signature giant joint.
As tradition mandates, the royal couple, likely hungover or still drunk from the coronation ceremony the night before, is heavily feted and doused with a pitcher of beer after the march.
The king and queen also have a “scepter” — a gigantic joint that is ceremoniously lit and passed around to whoever wants to partake.
DREUX GATHERINGS are no longer as centralized as they once were in Gentilly. And while there’s never been any sort of formal membership, in
recent years the core, active group has shrunk.
But the krewe continues to gather at different neighborhood bars in New Orleans with a similar vibe — laidback joints that have been around for decades with lots of regulars, like the Homedale Inn Bar, BJ’s Lounge and the Maple Leaf.
And since many of its founding members have passed on or aged out of partying, it’s on the younger folks like McCann and Mark to keep up the momentum.
“We have all this history and reputation, but the question is how do we evolve and move forward, while keeping the same charm that made us amazing as a krewe?” McCann says, noting that everything from Katrina to the changes in permitting have forced the krewe to adapt. And that means while the krewe may no longer gather at a specific bar on Dreux Day, the party still goes on.
“We have an all-day experience at the park. We do our parade, and [we] don’t care where we end up as long as we march down Dreux Street and hang out by that dumpster,” McCann says.
“It’s
us.”
A krewe royal lights up
PROVIDED PHOTO
first
hit
PxMxWx were weed rap pioneers
BY JAKE CLAPP
TODAY, cannabis and hip-hop are intimately intertwined. Countless hits have been made about the joy of smoking and misadventures of getting high, and a number of rappers, from Snoop Dogg to Wiz Khalifa, have crossed over to starting their own brands. New Orleans itself doesn’t have to look very far: Curren$y has a catalog full of weed-related songs, started Andretti Cannabis, and his brand, Jet Life, has a THC soda and gummy collaboration with Crescent Canna.
But weed and hip-hop haven’t always gone hand-in-hand. References to bud were rare until the mid-'80s, and even then, it was through subtle lines and innuendo – until Dr. Dre released “The Chronic” in 1992, making the most explicit connection yet. Meanwhile, hip-hop made by New Orleans artists had been picking up steam in the late-’80s, and in the early years of the ’90s, bounce emerged. Cannabis and music, especially jazz, already had a long history in the city, and people here were smoking weed, but there hadn’t yet been many songs overtly made about pot — until PxMxWx released their debut tape “Home Grown” in 1992.
Darryl “Big Man” Howard and Eric Timmons, who at the time went by DJ Razor Cut, formed the New Orleans hip-hop group PxMxWx — or Projects’
Most Wanted — in the early ’90s and quickly released the cannabis-focused bounce track “Splift Out.” The song was a New Orleans hit and led the group to sign a deal as one of the first artists with Cash Money Records.
PxMxWx followed up their tape with the Mannie Fresh-produced full-lengths “Legalize ‘Pass Tha Weed’ ” in 1993 and “High Life” the following year. And soon, other artists began making hip-hop more overtly focused on weed, like Lady Red’s “Smokin’ Dat Weed.”
Gambit spoke with Howard about forming PxMxWx and recording songs about weed. An edited transcript of the conversation follows.
Could you tell me about how PxMxWx started?
Y’all came up in the Iberville Projects, right?
DARRYL “BIG MAN” HOWARD: Yeah. Actually, I came up in Iberville. The guy I was doing music with, DJ Razor Cut, he came up in the 9th Ward. He was known as DJ Razor Cut back when PxMxWx was together, me and him. He’s now known as Freak Nasty, and he made a song called “Da’ Dip” — “I put my hand on your hip / When I dip, you dip, we dip.” That’s my buddy.
How did y’all know each other?
HOWARD: When we were in high school, we were DJs, and we came up
together doing all kind of DJ stuff, doing parties and stuff like that — school dances, talent shows, all that. He left to go to California, and when he came back, T. Tucker and DJ Irv were out with “Where Dey At.” We were listening and he said “Man, we could do something better than that.” At the time, Dr. Dre came out with “The Chronic,” so I said, “Let’s do a weed song.”
I was in my apartment in the Iberville Projects, and [Razor Cut] had his drum machine and his recorder and everything, so he started laying the beat down with the “Trigger Man” beat (The Showboys’ “Drag Rap”) everybody used back in the day for bounce. He recorded that, and I started down in the lyrics early in the morning — that’s what gave me a raspy sound, being
The cover for PxMxWx’s album “Legalize ‘Pass Tha Weed’ ” PROVIDED PHOTO
Darryl ‘Big Man’ Howard PHOTO PROVIDED BY DARRYL HOWARD
early in the morning. People think I was smoking.
That song became “Splift Out.” And on the backside, we did “Boot Up N****” and “Alphabet Bitches.”
How did y’all get hooked up with Cash Money?
HOWARD: We had [“Splift Out”], we put it out in the streets. We popped the trunk with cassette tapes, and the tapers were going so fast and so hot. It got to the radio station Q93, that’s when DJ Davey D and Wild Wayne were together back in the ‘90s. We didn’t have enough money to keep the distribution going, because the price was too high to order more cassette tapes. So Bryan (Williams, Cash Money co-founder) wanted to take over the project and buy the cassette tapes and stuff like that to get it back out there. That’s how we signed with Cash Money.
[Razor Cut] left for Atlanta, and Mannie Fresh was producing for Cash Money, so he started producing my music. I did two more albums with Cash Money, “Legalize ‘Pass Tha Weed’ ” and “High Life.” And “High Life” featured major artists like Bun B from UGK. He was featured on a song called “Bag of Indo.” And the music Mannie had done with that was like the G-Funk kind of style that Snoop Dogg and Warren G. had been doing. Mannie had the organ, pianos and everything, kind of like what Dr. Dre was doing, so “High Life” was the first bounce album that had that kind of stuff on it.
Were y’all performing live a lot during that time?
HOWARD: Yeah. We were performing on weekends, out of town in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, throughout the South region pretty much. We had a show out in Texas with Scarface. My biggest performance I did was in Lafayette, at a club called Club Strawberries, and that year was when Tupac (and his group Thug Life) came out with the “Thug Life” album. He performed before we went up, and he actually got into a fight because one of the guys threw a bottle up on stage at him.
I’m like, “Man, I gotta go on stage after Tupac just beat up someone?” But my gimmick was I had some girls with me who were my dancers, so when they saw the girls coming on stage, it was all cool. The show went great.
they had a trash bag full of weed. I was like “Man, y’all smoking all this weed?” And they were like, “Man, don’t you smoke?” And I said, “Yeah, but I don’t smoke that much!”
Do you remember what was in that garbage bag?
HOWARD: Colombian gold. They had the best, man. It was wild!
Weed played a major part in your music as PxMxWx. Was there a reason y’all wanted to make music about weed, smoking and dealing?
HOWARD: When Dr. Dre came out with “The Chronic,” that was a great album, and people were smoking weed in New Orleans. I remember smoking in high school — weed was always a popular recreation. So we were like, “Let’s do a weed song in our style, our New Orleans style.” Basically, the idea came from making something for people who like to smoke weed.
Were you a regular smoker?
HOWARD: No, I smoked weed a little bit, but when I made [“Splift Out”] everyone thought I was real weedhead. I wasn’t, but I would smoke when people had weed and would pass it around. I’d take a few hits, but that was about it.
Did y’all get any pushback? Anyone upset y’all were rapping about weed?
HOWARD: We did a little bit, especially when it hit the radio. We only got flack when it got on the radio, so we had to go in and give the station a clean cut of it because [people] didn’t want to hear about weed on the radio.
Do you feel like weed impacted your music in any way or helped with creativity?
HOWARD: I would say no. My creativity was already there, so it didn’t influence me in that way — but I know it influenced a lot of other people to smoke. [Laughs]
There was another night when Bone Thugs-N-Harmony came down to New Orleans to perform and we got in the van with them. When I tell you they had a trash bag full of weed — man,
Do you still smoke occasionally today?
HOWARD: Nah, I’d rather drink a Budweiser. But everybody in the whole world is smoking weed.
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Tropical vibes
ON A RECENT AFTERNOON, THE WEEK AFTER HE OPENED his newest restaurant Spicy Mango during Essence Fest, restaurateur Larry Morrow was inside the dining room noticing details.
For one, there was an unsightly wall outlet that needed to be moved, tucked away behind a seating area. “We can’t have that,” he said to his manager. “Let’s get the electrician in.”
In the summer, the heat and frequent rain pose a challenge for the restaurant’s expansive courtyard, so they installed more fans. “We’re always trying to anticipate our guest’s comfort,” the 33-year-old Morrow says.
For Morrow, the devil really is in the details. But he’s not the kind of guy who throws his weight around to get things done. Instead, his manner is understated and soft-spoken. He knows what he wants, and what he doesn’t, and the formula is working.
Morrow has been building a portfolio of restaurants and entertainment venues over the years. He and his mother Lenora Chong opened Morrow’s in 2018 on St. Claude Avenue. Then came Monday, Sun Chong, Morrow’s Steak and Seafood and now Spicy Mango.
His clubs, Treehouse in Central City and Hide / Seek in the Quarter, are incubators for his trademark “dope vibes” and see-and-be-seen parties. He plans to open a Morrow’s location in Houston next year.
Although he’s a pescatarian who doesn’t drink, Morrow is always taking guests’ tastes into account. He wanted the menu here to reflect what he’s seen on his travels to places like Mexico and Dubai. “I’m always looking for inspiration,” he says.
Besides comfort food, he was looking for lighter options for Spicy Mango.
Jordan Lindsey, the company’s culinary director, brought a blend of Caribbean and New Orleans cuisine to the table. Joshi bread, named for manager Josh Daly, who was raised in the Virgin Islands, is a take on an island johnny cake, served with guava honey butter on the side.
Indies French 75 is flavored with allspice. The restaurant seats about 200 guests inside and out. The space is light and airy, with rattan seating and walls the color of a sandy beach. A giant mango tree brings the tropics indoors in the dining room, while also doubling as a cover for a red structural pole. In the courtyard, there’s lots of seating scattered around a central fountain, and there’s a back bar and a bandstand for live music when the weather warrants.
FORK + CENTER
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Mona Lisa loses home
A BELOVED ITALIAN RESTAURANT KNOWN FOR ITS QUIRKY DECOR and pizzas is being evicted from the French Quarter building it has called home for nearly 40 years.
Farrow Stephenson and Tom Moore, owners of Mona Lisa Restaurant, were left in shock July 31 by a notice giving them 60 days to vacate their longstanding pizzeria on Royal Street, near the Golden Lantern bar.
The realtor wrote in a text message that the new owner would not renew the lease, Stephenson said. He and Moore knew there was a chance this might happen when the building went up for sale in March. Still, the notice came as a surprise for the married couple, who have owned the restaurant for 20 years. Mona Lisa first opened in 1987.
The shrimp ceviche is bright with citrus and nibs of mango. There’s a coconut curry butternut squash soup, and spicy jerk chicken is served with mango salsa on the side. A street fruit salad of microgreens, fresh pineapple and mango is dressed with a chamoy sauce, a popular Mexican sauce with a salty, sweet-and-sour umami.
Chunks of jerk chicken are served with mac and cheese. There’s a Cuban sandwich, a jerk burger and a creamy chicken curry served with rice. Braised oxtails are served in a jerk reduction. A grilled whole branzino is flambeed tableside.
Side dishes include fried sweet plantains and yuca fries. For dessert, Morrow’s favorite is the mango pie, a cousin to Key lime pie with fruity and tart flavor.
Cocktails exude tropical ingredients, and the spicy mango margarita is served with a Tajin-rimmed glass. The Montserrat is made with guava puree and coconut rum, and the West
The name Spicy Mango felt right from the start, Morrow says.
“You know when it’s the right idea,” he says. “It hits you emotionally. I do a lot of work from the gut. When we open a new concept, we aren’t just creating another opportunity to generate revenue; we create an experience, an energy, that reaches people emotionally.”
Morrow’s origin story is well known: His roots blend Korean and Black cultures. His grandmother Sun Chong was living in Seoul when she met Morrow’s grandfather, an American serviceman stationed in Korea. After his mother Lenora was born, Chong came to America to seek a better life for her family.
Morrow was raised by his grandmother and mother, strong women who taught him the meaning of hard work and hospitality. He recently took his wife, daughter and grandmother on a trip back to Korea.
“She hadn’t been there in 23 years,” he says. “It was an emotional trip.”
“We just didn’t know it would be so sudden,” Stephenson said.
The realtor also offered to help them find a new building to house Mona Lisa. Though the co-owners would consider the offer, Stephenson doesn’t think anywhere else would quite compare to their cozy space filled with comical and intricate replicas of the famed 16-century masterpiece that is the eatery’s namesake.
“It’s such a good mix of tourists and local people,” he said. “To replicate it somewhere else would be really difficult.”
Residents were shocked and upset to hear about the eviction.
“Everybody has been so, so, so overwhelming,” Stephenson said. “They’ve been so nice ... I can’t even begin to express how appreciative we are of everybody.”
Stephenson brought joy to the historic neighborhood at the height of the
Larry Morrow opens Spicy Mango in Marigny by Beth D’Addono |
Larry Morrow (left) and chef Jordan Lindsey at Spicy Mango PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT
Mona Lisa pizzeria COURTESY OF MONA LISA RESTAURANT’S FACEBOOK PAGE
pandemic in 2020, when he started decorating the restaurant’s front door window with hand-drawn signs that featured a parody of the Renaissance muse and satirical messages about local and national politics.
He created a sign when the building was for sale earlier this year to address rumors about the restaurant potentially closing. This one showcased a sketch of a button-nosed Snoopy version of “Mona Lisa” drawn with blue crayon.
“Addressing the elephant. Yes the building is for sale… the restaurant is not for sale,” the note read.
Stephenson addressed the eviction the only way he knew how — using a sign of a yellow-eyed dinosaur with long hair in the style of Mona Lisa.
“In case you haven’t heard...” the sign read, “we’ve been told by the new owner’s minion that we have 60 days to vacate... Now I’ll have time to make that podcast about the titanic like existence of independent restaurants.”
— Poet Wolfe / The Times-Picayune
Farmers market overhaul
A FORMER AUTO-REPAIR SHOP IN MIDCITY ACROSS FROM the Lafitte Greenway will be the site of a new market where farmers from around South Louisiana will be able to sell fresh produce, meat, seafood and dairy products on a consignment basis, seven days a week.
The market, known as Farmer’s and located in the former R&S Auto Service on a triangular lot between N. Hagan Avenue and Moss Street, will be a “farm stop.” It’s a new concept gaining popularity around the country that aims to give small farmers greater access to people interested in buying locally grown produce, thereby strengthening regional food systems.
At a farm stop, farmers deliver a week’s worth of produce or so at a time, set their own price for the goods and turn over the marketing and sales to the store, which is open year round. The farm stop owner keeps a portion of the sales to cover overhead — 30% in the case of the local store — and the rest goes to the farmers.
“It’s an everyday brick and mortar grocery store that is 100% local,” says Caroline Rogers, who, with her husband Mike Bertel, is behind the Mid-City project. “Everybody knows exactly where their food is coming from and where the money is going.”
The local farm stop will be located across the street from the site of the Crescent City Farmers Market’s Thursday event, which is held on the Greenway. Bertel says he doesn’t want to compete with the Thursday market but to complement it.
Bertel and Rogers also will apply for a liquor license so they can sell local craft beer and wine produced at the handful of Northshore wineries.
“We want to collaborate with them and be an extension of them in any way we can and vice versa,” he says. “We both share the same mission of growing the local food economy.”
Bertel and Rogers say they know firsthand about the challenges local farmers face getting their products to market and building sustainable businesses. Though their full-time home is in Mid-City and Bertel’s day job is with his family’s longtime business, Toulouse Street Millworks, the couple spend weekends and summers on their Three Fires Farm in Poplarville, Mississippi.
The farm cultivates blueberries along with beef and pork that they sell to the Brennan restaurants. One of the first lessons they learned was that while farming is hard, finding a market and selling is much harder, Rogers says.
“There is such an abundance of small farmers in our area, but they don’t have a platform and the means to sell their goods,” she says.
They are modeling their establishment after the Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which opened in 2014 and has since grown to three locations. It’s one of several dozen around the country, according to the 2026 Farm Stop Conference, which promotes the farm stop model.
While farm stops predominantly sell fresh produce, meat and dairy products, the local farm stop will also sell locally sourced seafood and other local products like bakery goods and condiments.
The couple acquired the site for $800,000. The small building sits on a triangular parcel that was a gas station before it became home to an autorepair shop.
The couple met with Crescent City Farmers Market Executive Director Angelina Harrison to discuss ways they can work together.
“We’re a little worried about competition,” Harrison says. “But a comprehensive food system doesn’t just have a farmers market and doesn’t have just one retail store.”
With 130 farmers in its network and three weekly markets at the Lafitte Greenway on Thursday, City Park on Sunday and the Batture Uptown on Tuesday, Harrison says a big part of her job is to educate farmers about how to reach more consumers.
“Our small-scale producers have very few opportunities to sell their produce,” she says. “Much as I hate to say it, the farmers market model isn’t the most convenient for producers or consumers. So, more access is good for everybody and we’re fully supportive of this concept.”
Bertel says he is open to the possibility of closing early on Thursdays to avoid taking customers from the Thursday farmers market. Another idea is to help showcase regular vendors at the Thursday market.
Bertel and Rogers won’t say how much they’re investing in the renovation of their new farm stop, but they hope to be open by Thanksgiving. — Stephanie Riegel / The Times-Picayune
DATE: SEPTEMBER 1
RESERVE BY: AUGUST 22
Caroline Rogers and her husband, Mike Bertel, will turn a former auto repair shop into a farm stop.
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Ian Lloyd-Webb
Chef
by Will Coviello
IAN LLOYD-WEBB WORKED IN SEATTLE RESTAURANTS including Tom Douglas’ TanakaSan and Lola. He came to New Orleans on vacation during the pandemic and ended up helping out a chef friend by washing dishes at a local restaurant as a favor. But he loved the city’s culture, food and music and decided to move here. After working at local restaurants and a catering company, he launched a pop-up, P-Otis, named for his father. P-Otis serves Seattle-style Asian fusion dishes, like creative dumplings, and some Mexican dishes. He’s in residence at Courtyard Brewery Saturday through Tuesday, and he does Wednesdays at Sea Cave. He also does catering and is growing a meal prep and dumplings business. Find more information on Instagram, @p.otisfoods.
How did you get interested in cooking?
IAN LLOYD-WEBB: I have been in some form of culinary industry since I was 15. At first, I got fired from Arby’s, and my dad was like, “You can’t make fast food a career. You have to have a career.”
We sat down that night and watched “The Layover with Anthony Bourdain” on Travel Channel. It happened to be the episode on Seattle. It had Matt Dillon, Renee Erickson and all these Seattle chefs, and Tom Douglas was on there. I looked at my dad, and I said I am going to work for that guy.
I had gotten a job as a dishwasher at the Seattle Art Museum. I started learning and took every prep project they gave me. I lived in Edmonds, Washington. I moved downtown, and within three months of moving I applied to work at one of Tom Douglas’ restaurants. I was hired as a prep cook. Three months into a five-year plan, the goal was there.
When I worked for Tom Douglas, for eight months, eight hours a day, I would roll dumplings. I made dumplings, I made lumpia, I made ramen and pho broth, and I fried chicken wings. Those were my main projects.
I ended up working for Douglas for four and a half years. I jumped into James Beard fine-dining food when I first started out. I went straight to high end, high quality, high standards. My career progressed from there.
How are you developing your business?
How did you fit into the culinary world here?
LW: We got here just when Ida hit. When I first moved down here, I was a prep cook at Elysian Bar and split time between Anna’s and The Will & The Way. I was working like 60-70 hours a week.
I also worked at Messina’s Catering for two years. I have always wanted to do something on my own. My main thing is lead by example. With the pop-up, I couldn’t find the Asian fusion that I was used to, so I made it, and people liked it. I think two Mardi Gras ago was the first time I sold dumplings. I wanted to offer something that was nostalgic for me, but something that wasn’t common down here. It’s dumplings or fried rice. It blossomed from there.
When I first started doing the pop-up, I did pan-seared dumplings. Right now, at Courtyard, I do miso pork dumplings. Before I was doing chili chicken verde, like a Mexicanstyle chicken dumpling topped with salsa verde, queso fresco and pickled red onions. It was served with Tajin mayonnaise-based coleslaw and rice.
With my dumplings, I’ll do golden curry chicken. I’ve done all different kinds. It’s because of the melting pot I grew up with in Seattle, with Spanish, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and all these cultures. Down here, I add in the Cajun and Creole and Caribbean influences. I’ve done hot sausage alligator dumplings. I’ll do off-the-wall stuff that I haven’t seen before.
I did a pop-up at Crown & Anchor and did a kimchi, chicken and crawfish dumpling. That sold out.
WI NE OF THE WEEK
LW: Courtyard is the main thing. Part of my goal is to build (P-Otis) as a fast-casual restaurant. I was ingrained in fine dining. I did all that fine dining and gastronomy stuff right at the start of my career. I love that style of food, but I like cooking bar food. It’s a little different than your regular bar food, but it’s still familiar.
The goal with the company is to start wholesaling. I do a lot of meal prep and catering, and I sell my dumplings frozen. I want Courtyard to be a place where people can pick up meal prep or cold catered items you would heat yourselves. I also want to bring frozen dumplings to small boutique places across the city to wholesale my product. My background is mainly in catering. I want to do large-scale batch stuff where I am doing things for groups of people.
I used to be at Prytania Bar. I started the meal prep there. I’d sell three or four dozen frozen dumplings. It was across the street from Touro, so I did a lot of business with Touro staff because of my style of food. It’s healthy, and I would do vegan friendly, gluten free and that kind of stuff.
A lot of places are strict about no changes. When I started this, I was like, I have always been told no, as a chef or manager. So when I got the ability to do this on my own, I said I am going to cater the way others don’t.
I have a couple come to Courtyard every week for trivia. He’s gluten free, so last week I bought gluten free soy sauce. It’s little things like that. I’ll bend the menu so it’s easier for everybody else to eat. Putting in that care means a customer is going to come back. Simple things like that go a long way in this industry.
With aromas of cherry pie, grenadine and plum, as well as delightful notions of sagebrush, fennel, and hints of flinty minerality and barrel spice. Silky tannins underscoreconcentrated flavors of dark fruitand spice, with notesofcocoa, tobacco leaf, black tea, nutmeg and cardamom on the long, rich finish.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY TAYLOR CASTILLO
Out to Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.
Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.
com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato in flavors like praline, salted caramel and tiramisu, as well as Italian ices in flavors like lemon, strawberry and mango. There also are cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and coffee drinks. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $
com — Gulf Drum Yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. There also are oysters, seafood pasta dishes, steaks, lamb chops and more. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$
Bamboula’s — 514 Frenchmen St.; bamboulasmusic.com — The live music venue’s kitchen offers a menu of traditional and creative Creole dishes, such as Creole crawfish crepes with goat cheese and chardonnay sauce. Reservations accepted. Lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$
The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp are served with rosemary garlic butter sauce over cheese grits with a cheese biscuit. The menu includes po-poys, fried seafood platters, raw and char-grilled oysters, boiled seafood in season, and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lakeview: Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: Lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$
Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 581-3866; broussards.com — The menu of contemporary Creole dishes includes bronzed redfish with jumbo lump crabmeat, lemon beurre blanc and vegetables. Brunch includes Benedicts, avocado toast, chicken and waffles, turtle soup and more. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available in the courtyard. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and Louisiana items like crab beignets with herb aioli. Sandwiches include po-boys, a muffuletta on flatbread and a burger. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner Fri.-Mon. $$
The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — Dickie Brennan’s Commissary supplies his other restaurant kitchens and also has a dine-in menu and prepared foods to go. A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Sat. $$
Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. There also are crab cakes, shrimp and grits,
$ — average dinner entrée under $10
$$ $11-$20
$$$ — $20-up
crawfish etouffee, po-boys and more. Outdoor seating available on balcony. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$
Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes oysters served raw on the half-shell or char-broiled with with Parmesan, garlic and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse.com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and char-broiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish on the Half-shell is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. The bar offers a wide selection of bourbon and whiskies. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — The menu includes a variety of steaks, plus seared Gulf fish, lobster pasta, barbecue shrimp and more. A 6-ounce filet mignon is served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. Reservations recommended. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$
El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, ceviche. tamales and more. Pescado Vera Cruz features sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$
Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar jack cheese, black beans, rice, guacamole and salsa. The menu also includes tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, salads, rice and bean bowls with various toppings and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$
Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The eclectic menu also includes chargrilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more. Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$
Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The all-day bar menu includes sandwiches, soups, salads, flatbreads and a couple entrees. A muffuletta flatbread is topped with salami, mortadella, capicola, mozzarella and olive salad. No reservations. Lunch Fri.-Mon., dinner daily. $$
Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and sharable plates like NOLA Tot Debris. A slow-cooked pulled pork barbecue sandwich is served with coleslaw on a brioche bun. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 513-2606; legacykitchen.com — The selection of steak and chops includes filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, top sirloin and double pork chops and a la carte toppings include bernaise, blue cheese and sauteed crabmeat. There also are burgers, salads, pasta, seafood entrees, char-broiled oysters and more. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The menu of Japanese cuisine includes sushi, signature rolls, tempura items, udon noodle dishes, teriyaki, salads and more.The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado, snow crab, green onion and wasabi roe. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and spaghetti Bordelaise and chicken cacciatore. Chicken a la grands is sauteed with garlic, rosemary, Italian herbs and white wine. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$
Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys dressed with sliced cabbage like the Famous Ferdi filled with ham, roast beef and debris. Creole favorites include jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Breakfast is available all day. Delivery available. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans and rice with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as shrimp Creole, seafood platters, po-boys, char-grilled and raw oysters, salads and more. Side items include carrot souffle, mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato tots and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$
Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese and garlic butter, and other options include oysters Rockefeller and loaded oysters. The creative menu also includes seafood bread, a Cajun-lobster potato, wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood pasta, loaded fries and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$
Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro — 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers cheese boards and appetizers to nosh with wines. The menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$
Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill. com — The menu includes a variety of burgers, sandwiches, wraps, pizza and salads. For an appetizer, sauteed andouille is served with fig preserves, blue cheese and toast points. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — At brunch, braised short rib grillades are served over grits with mushrooms, a poached egg and shaved truffle. The dinner menu has oysters, salads, pasta, shrimp and grits, a burger, cheese plates and more. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$
Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates. Crab beignets are made with Gulf crabmeat and mascarpone and served with herb aioli. No reservations. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 9343463; tableaufrenchquarter.com — The menu features traditional and creative Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, littleneck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available on the balcony. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$
Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes raw and char-broiled oysters, seafood platters, po-boys, fried chicken, crab and corn bisque and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — A Marilynn Pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches, wings, breadsticks and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 324-7144; thevintagenola.com — There’s a full coffee drinks menu and baked goods and beignets, as well as a full bar. The menu has flatbreads, cheese boards, small plates and a pressed veggie sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
For the of the
CLove Croffeeawl
OCTOBER 3-4, 2025
From August 11 to September 12, join us for a citywide celebration of cofee! The Cofee Crawl is your chance to explore local shops, step outside your usual order, and discover something new—for your chance to win!
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
1. Visit participating cofee shops featured in our guide. We encourage you to explore new cofee options and try something new at each stop!
2. Take a photo while you’re there—whether it’s a selfe with your cup or a creative shot of your drink with the shop in the background.
3. Submit your photo by emailing it to vip@gambitweekly.com, or sharing it on Instagram and tagging @gambitneworleans by Friday, September 12, 2025.
COFFEE + MATCHA
400 HARRISON AVENUE GROUND FLOOR, NEW ORLEANS 3304 W. ESPLANADE AVENUE N. STE. B7, METAIRIE EVOLVECOFFEENOLA.COM
Start your Cofee Crawl strong! Stop by Evolve and try their signature Iced Evolution – ceremonial-grade matcha, bold espresso, and milk layered over ice for a perfectly balanced pick-me-up.
Participants who visit all or most stops on the crawl will be entered to win our Grand Prize:
• Free Cofee Beans for a Year from Orleans Cofee
• VIP passes for two to the NOLA Cofee Festival, October 3–4, 2025
Participants are also eligible for awesome giveaways like:
• GA tickets to NOLA Cofee Festival, October 3–4, 2025
• Gift cards from participating shops And more surprise prizes! Questions? Visit bestofneworleans.com/cofee for more information, or email vip@gambitweekly.com
OLD ROAD COFFEE 2024 BAYOU ROAD, NEW ORLEANS OLDROADCOFFEE.COM
Cool of with Old Road Cofee’s Coconut Cold Brew! It’s smooth, bold, and just the right amount of tropical. Make it your own specialty drink by customizing the cold foam with a variety of favors. Don’t miss this charming neighborhood spot during your Cofee Crawl! Open daily from 6:30am - 5:00pm.
ORLEANS COFFEE ESPRESSO BAR 3445 PRYTANIA STREET, NEW ORLEANS ORLEANSCOFFEEESPRESSOBAR.COM
The Dirty Ginger is a dirty chai latte made with ginger candy–infused espresso and steamed milk.
COCONUT COLD BREW
DIRTY GINGER
MATCHA MAGIC
2000 TULANE AVENUE STE. A, NEW ORLEANS ITSMATCHAMAGIC.COM
Matcha Magic recently opened with a variety of authentic, hand-whisked matcha creations and health-forward bites. Try their Purple Rain, a top-seller that combines lavender, ube, and matcha sweet cream. Customize with your choice of plant milk or a variety of boosters.
LE PONCE
3133 PONCE DE LEON STREET, NEW ORLEANS LEPONCENOLA.COM
Our afogato is made with homemade vanilla ice cream, espresso, and Chantilly cream. A sweet European Cafe, no passport needed!
COOKIES & CREAM AND COOKIE BUTTER LATTES
601 BARONNE STREET, NEW ORLEANS EATBATTER.COM
Our limited-time specialty lattes, Cookies & Cream and Cookie Butter, are here to make your summer latte dreams come true. These fun favors are only around for the month, so don’t miss out! Follow our socials to keep up with us @BATTERbakery!
FOR THE LOVE OF COFFEE CRAWL
CONGREGATION COFFEE
900 JEFFERSON AVENUE, NEW ORLEANS 240 PELICAN AVENUE, NEW ORLEANS CONGREGATIONCOFFEE.COM
House-made horchata, perfectly balanced with a double shot of espresso, over ice. The perfect cinnamon-y sweet treat to get you through the summer!
GOSPEL COFFEE AND BOOZY TREATS AT HOTEL FONTENOT
501 TCHOUPITOULAS STREET, NEW ORLEANS GOSPELCOFFEENOLA.COM
From expertly crafted espresso drinks and house-made cold brews, your cup can always be flled with the spirit by spiking any of our hot or frozen drinks. Just let us know if you want to add a shot to your item of choice.
CHERRY ESPRESSO BAR
4875 LAUREL STREET, NEW ORLEANS CHERRYCOFFEEROASTERS.COM Cold brew mixed with sweetened condensed milk topped with an ube cold foam.
PJ’S COFFEE
CITYWIDE PJSCOFFEE.COM
Granita is our signature frozen beverage at PJ’s Cofee. Ofered in Mocha and Caramel. Rich chocolate added to our famous granita with a spiral of whipped cream and drizzles of more chocolate.
BEARCAT
845 CARONDELET STREET, NEW ORLEANS 2521 JENA STREET, NEW ORLEANS 726 JULIA STREET, NEW ORLEANS WEBSITE.COM
Here for all your cafeine needs. Join us at one of our 3 locations for breakfast, lunch, cofee or cocktails!
UNDERGROWTH COFFEE
4332 MAGAZINE STREET, NEW ORLEANS UNDERGROWTHCOFFEE.COM
A classic espresso-based drink made with equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and milk foam. It has a bold cofee favor balanced by creamy texture and a light, airy top.
LAUREL STREET BAKERY
2701 S. BROAD STREET, NEW ORLEANS LAURELSTREETBAKERY.COM
For two decades, Laurel Street Bakery has proudly served NOLA with a full line of cofee and espresso classics, freshly baked goods, bagels made in-house, breakfast, and lunch. Try their iced caramel cappuccino, a crowd favorite, or their newly added iced lavender latte!
CC’S COFFEE HOUSE
CITY WIDE CCSCOFFEE.COM
Get your morning started with the warm, sweet favors of brown sugar cinnamon, maple, and white chocolate, blended with rich espresso and creamy Mochasippi® Mix, then topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon powder. The best fall days start at CC’s Cofee House®!
CAPPUCCINO
PURPLE RAIN
GRANITA
ICED CARAMEL CAPPUCCINO
AFFOGATO
MOCHA FREEZE
CAPPUCCINO
FRENCH TOAST MOCHASIPPI®
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Some, Polecats and Peter Godwin. At 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, at Saenger Theatre. Tickets $67.10$134.20 via saengernola.com.
Cutting Edge Conference
Among the music industry professionals talking on panels at the Cutting Edge Conference are Dave Catching, guitarist for Queens of the Stone age and founder of Rancho de la Luna studio, and Peter Stahl, tour manager for Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, and George Porter Jr. will be given a lifetime achievement award at a ceremony at the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Saturday, Aug. 16. There are numerous conference and entertainment events Aug. 13-16 at various venues. Shirley King, daughter of B.B. King, will participate in the celebration of the centennial of the blues legend’s birth. Loose Cattle, Paul Sanchez, Mia Borders and more perform at the JAMericana Fete event at the Broadside on Saturday. The Artists Showcase at the House of Blues on Thursday through Saturday features performances by local blues singer Layla Musselwhite, Lafayette’s Double Trouble Zydeco, young Cajun band Amis du Teche and artists from across the country. There also are in-store performances at Peaches Records on Wednesday. Visit cuttingedgenola.com for full schedule of events, venues and schedule.
Caleb Tokarska Band
Guitarist Caleb Tokarska has played with musicians like John Boutte and Oscar Rossignoli over the years, and he leads his own band, which blends rock, blues, funk and soul. He next plays at 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at the Maple Leaf, which is back open after its summer break. Tickets are $15 via mapleleafbar.com and $20 at the door.
MS Paint
You won’t find a guitar in MS Paint. The Mississippi-based synth-punk band keeps things fresh through experimentation, angular turns and restless energy that hooks the listener in immediately — and MS Paint won’t let go. The band plays at 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at Siberia with Pat and the Pissers and Lip Critic. Tickets are $19.95 via siberianola.com.
Joy Clark
New Orleans singer-songwriter Joy Clark released her debut full-length album, the exceptional “Tell It to the Wind,” last October and has
stayed busy ever since. In January, Clark toured North America with Ani DiFranco, whose Righteous Babe label released “Tell It to the Wind,” and then, Clark turned around and toured Europe with Madeleine Peyroux. Clark is back home before she heads out for more festivals across the U S Clark plays at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at Carrollton Station with Sweet Magnolia. Tickets are $16.30 via carrolltonstationnola.com and $20 at the door.
The Moth
The theme for August’s installment of the open-mic storytelling competition is “Childish,” inviting stories of youthful indiscretions, school ordeals and more. Contestants can sign-up at the event to share a story of five minutes or less. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and stories begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, at Cafe Istanbul. Tickets $12.50-$17.50 via themoth.org.
Saints vs. Jaguars
The New Orleans Saints host the Jacksonville Jaguars in preseason action. At noon, Sunday, Aug. 17, at the Caesars Superdome. Find information at neworleanssaints.com.
48 Hour Film Project
The 48 Hour Film Project screens the short films made for its July competition. Attendees can vote for their favorites in this screening, and audience awards will be presented at the festival’s awards ceremony later this month at UNO. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, at The Broad Theater. Tickets $10 via thebroadtheater.com.
Billy Iuso
Guitarist Billy Iuso has focused on jam-friendly rock, funk and psychedelia. He tops the bill at a Free Fridays concert at Tipitina’s. Bluesman Marc Stone also performs. At 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. There are no tickets, and admission is first come, first served. Find more information at tipitinas.com.
Sweet Crude
In spring, Sweet Crude released its contemporary take on the classic Cajun song “Jolie Blonde,” part of a series of single releases putting new spins on popular Creole and Louisiana French tunes. The roots pop band performs at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at the North Star Theatre in Mandeville. Find tickets via northstartheatre.org.
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FOR COMPLETE M US IC LI S TING S AND MORE EVENT S TAKING PLACE IN THE NEW ORLEAN S AREA, VI S IT CALENDAR.GAMBITWEEKLY.COM
To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com
MONDAY 11
30/90 — Margie Perez, 6 pm; Piano Man G, 9 pm
APPLE BARREL — Mark Appleford, 6 pm; Decaturadio, 10:30
BACCHANAL — Brian King, 7 pm
BAMBOULA’S Jon Roniger & The Good for Nothin’ Band, 4:30 pm; Ted Hefko & The Thousandaires, 9 pm
BJ’S LOUNGE — Red Beans & Blues with Dick Deluxe & Friends 9 pm
BUFFA’S — David Doucet, 7 pm
CAFE NEGRIL — Gumbo Funk, 7:30 pm
DOS JEFES John Fohl, 8:30 pm
FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB Matinee All Stars Band & Jazz Jam Session, 1 pm; Tin Men, 5 pm; Richard Scott & Friends, 8 pm
THE GOAT — Ego Likeness + One Big Dark Room + Red Laws, 9 pm
LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — VetJams, 7 pm
MAHOGANY JAZZ HALL Tom Hook, 6 pm; The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, 8 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL Jazz Vipers, 9 pm
ST. ROCH TAVERN Lefty’s Right Hand Band + Grape Candy, 9 pm
SPOTTED CAT — Jenavieve Cooke & The Winding Boys, 2 pm; Dominick Grillo & The Frenchmen Street All-Stars, 6 pm; Amber Rachelle & The Sweet Potatoes, 9:30 pm
TUESDAY 12
30/90 — Uncut, 6 pm; Higher Heights Reggae, 9 pm
APPLE BARREL — Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Scott Jackson & Friends, 10:30 pm
BACCHANAL — David Sigler, 6 pm
BAMBOULA’S — Giselle Anguizola Quartet, 4:30 pm; Caitie B. & The Hand Me Downs, 9 pm
BANKS STREET BAR — VetJams, 7 pm
BUFFA’S — Alex McMurray, 7 pm
DOS JEFES Tom Hook, 8:30 pm
FRITZEL’S JAZZ CLUB Richard
“Piano” Scott, 1 pm; Zach Lange Band, 5 pm; Fritzel’s All-Star Band with Jamil Sharif, 8 pm
GASA GASA — Skating Polly with Mary Shelley and Gawner, 8 pm
HOLY DIVER — The Amazing Henrietta, 8 pm
MAHOGANY JAZZ HALL Big Joe Kennedy, 6 pm; Kevin Louis & The Home Team, 8 pm
ROCK 'N' BOWL — Latin Night with DJ Nayo, 7:30 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Trumpet Mafa, 6 pm; 9 pm
SALON SALON Or Shovaly Plus, 7 pm
SANTOS BAR — 2 Mic Tuesdays with Mudbug, Wino Willy, P.U.D.G.E & ET Deaux, 10 pm
THREE MUSES Robin Rapuzzi’s Glo Worm Duo, 5 pm
TIPITINA’S — AJJ & Pacing, 8 pm
WEDNESDAY 13
30/90 — The Dapper Dandies, 6 pm; Ado Soul & The Tribe, 9 pm
APPLE BARREL — Hobo Gadget, 6 pm; Steve Mignano, 10:30 pm
BACCHANAL Jesse Morrow, 6 pm
BAMBOULA’S Swingin’ with John Saavedra, 4:30 pm; The Queen & Friendz, 9 pm
BANKS STREET BAR Mia Borders, 8 pm
BLUE NILE New Breed Brass Band, 9:30 pm
BUFFA’S — Mark Carroll & Friends, 7 pm
CAFÉ NEGRIL — Jam-ilton, 8 pm
DOS JEFES Z2, 8:30 pm
GASA GASA — Emo Karaoke, 8 pm
JAZZ PLAYHOUSE Funkin’ It Up with Big Sam, 7:30 pm
MARIGNY BRASSERIE Legacy Jazz Band, 7 pm
OKAY BAR Not Exotic + Gold Connections, 8 pm
THE RABBIT HOLE Reggaeton Dance Night with DJ Siisko, 9 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Kermit Rufns, 8 pm; BAM JAM w/ Gene Black, 9 pm
SANTOS BAR DJSON, 10 pm
SNUG HARBOR — No Drama Band, 4:30 pm; The Uptown Jazz Orchestra with John Gray, 7:30 pm; 9:30 pm
VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE — Robin Rapuzzi’s Glo Worm Trio, 8:30 pm
THURSDAY 14
BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Tuba Skinny, 9 pm
BLUE NILE — Irvin Mayfeld w/special guests, 9 & 11 pm
30/90 — Organami, 6 pm; The Budz, 9 pm
APPLE BARREL Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Johnny Mastro, 10:30 pm
BACCHANAL — Raphael Bas, 6 pm
BAMBOULA’S — JJ & The A-Okay’s, 12 pm; Cristina Kaminis & The Mix, 4:30 pm; Wolfe John’s Band, 9 pm
BJ’S LOUNGE — Tuba Skinny, 9 pm
BLUE NILE Irvin Mayfeld’s Music Church, 9 pm; 11 pm
BLUE NILE BALCONY ROOM — Reggae
Night with DJ T-Roy, 11 pm
BMC The Budz, 8 pm
BUFFA’S Daniel Beaudoin, 7 pm
CAFE NEGRIL Jason Neville Funky Soul Band, 6:30 pm
CARROLLTON STATION Mahmoud Chouki & Friends, 8 pm
D.B.A. — Palmetto Bug Stompers, 6 pm
DOS JEFES — The Mark Coleman Band, 8:30 pm
GASA GASA — Dicqbeats with Hidden Hands, Cr5ation Five & We Dreamt Of Being Ghosts Amongst The Stars, 9 pm
THE GOAT Urban Fauna + TV Addict + Fake Cofee Club, 8 pm
JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Brass-AHolics, 7:30 pm
LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — The Soul Rebels, 11 pm
OKAY BAR DJ Nice Rack, 8 pm
POOR BOYS The Magic Mic, 7:30 pm
THE RABBIT HOLE Pure Intentions: Open Decks, 9 pm
ROCK 'N' BOWL Leroy Thomas & Zydeco Roadrunners, 8 pm
SAENGER THEATRE — Lost 80’s Live, 6:30 pm
SALON SALON — Double Whisky, 7 pm
SANTOS BAR — Tainted Love 80’s Dance Night, 10 pm
SNUG HARBOR Clarence Johnson III Quartet, 7:30 pm; 9:30 pm
VAUGHAN’S LOUNGE — Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet, 10:30 pm
FRIDAY 15
30/90 Jef Chaz Blues Band, 2 pm, Jon Roniger & The Good For Nothin Band, 5 pm; Big Mike & The R&B Kings, 8 pm; Street Legends Brass Band, 11 pm
APPLE BARREL Bubbles Brown, 6 pm; Andre Lovett, 10:30 pm
ARORA — Star Monster + EYE10 + Mr Silver, 10 pm
BACCHANAL — Willie Green III, 7 pm
BAMBOULA’S — The Rug Cutters, 11 am; Felipe Antonio’s Quintet, 2 pm; Les Getrex & Creole Cookin’, 6:30 pm; Bettis & The 3rd Degree Brass Band, 10 pm
BJ’S LOUNGE — Sick Thoughts Record Release, 9 pm
BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers’ Funk Box, 8 pm; Kermit Rufns & The BBQ Swingers, 11 pm
BMC — Jazz Band Ballers, 5:30 pm; Maurice ESS Band, 9 pm
BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm
BUFFA’S — Ragtime Piano Hour with Adam Rogers, 6 pm; Tuba Skinny, 8 pm
CARROLLTON STATION Joy Clark + Sweet Magnolia, 8 pm
CHICKIE WAH WAH Andrew Duhon Trio, 9 pm
D.B.A. — Little Freddie King, 9:30 pm
DOS JEFES The Afrodiziac’s Jazz, 9 pm
GASA GASA Atomic Broad + The Band Melrose + Double Knockout, 8 pm
Mia Borders performs at Banks Street Bar on Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 8 p.m.
VOL. 11 with Zach Smallman, 6 pm; Patrick Bolden-Smith Presents Short Term Fun, 8 pm THE GOAT — Doctors + Totem, 8 pm
MUSIC
HOLY DIVER — Filth Abyss with DJs Mange & Scythe, 10 pm
HOWLIN’ WOLF Slim the Wolf + Norcio + Jabroni Express, 8 pm
LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ Kat Deal, 11 pm
NOLA BREWING The Tanglers, 7 pm
OKAY BAR — Olivia Valentine + My Neptune, 7 pm
PUBLIC BELT AT HILTON NEW ORLEANS RIVERSIDE — Phil Melancon, 5 pm
THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA JANE Or Shovaly Plus Performs at The Press Room , 4 pm
RABBIT HOLE Black Out Days, 10 pm
THE REPUBLIC Emos Not Dead with Superbloom + SNAXX + Your New Host, 11 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Glen
David Andrews, 9 pm
SAENGER THEATRE Jeezy with Color of Noize Orchestra, 8 pm
SANTOS BAR DJ Otto, 10 pm
TIPITINA’S Gimme Gimme Disco, 9 pm
SUNDAY 17
30/90 — The Andre Lovett Band, 6 pm; Manic Mixtape, 9 pm
ALLWAYS LOUNGE — Sunday Swing Night, 8 pm
APPLE BARREL Shwag, 6 pm; Steve Mignano, 10:30 pm
BACCHANAL Tangiers Combo, 7 pm
BAMBOULA’S The Jaywalkers, 11 am; Laura Doyle Quartet, 1:15 pm; Cristina Kaminis & The Mix, 5:30 pm; Les Getrex & Creole Cooking, 9 pm
BJ’S LOUNGE James McClaskey & The Rhythm Band, 9 pm
BOURBON STREET HONKY TONK The Bad Sandys, 8 pm
BROADSIDE — The Supervillians, 8 pm
BUFFA’S Jon Sheckler, 7 pm
CAFÉ NEGRIL Chase N Sasquatch, 6 pm; The Next Level Band, 9 pm
GASA GASA Beneft For Peggy & Andrew, 1 pm
HOUSE OF BLUES — Fishbone + Bad Operation, 7 pm
OKAY BAR — Bruisey Peets + Little Death + Wayward Mystic, 8 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL Chris Christy’s Quintet, 9 pm
TIPITINA’S Rolling Elvi & Sassyracs 2025 Summer Blood Drive ft. The Great Twenty-Eights + More!, 12 pm
SCAN FOR
WHERE TO FIND THC
COCKTAILS & SELTZERS
Cali Sober Market
1011 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite B, Metairie
Grab & Go Fridge 806 Conti St., New Orleans calisobermarket.com
Dorignac’s 710 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie dorignacs.com
Fleur de Leaf 4713 River Rd., New Orleans feurdeleafwellness.com
Pal’s Lounge 949 N Rendon, New Orleans
Parlay’s
870 Harrison Ave., New Orleans parlaysbar.com
Rouses Market
2701 Airline Dr., Metairie
2851 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna
701 Baronne St., New Orleans
400 N. Carrollton Ave., New Orleans
717 Clearview Pkwy., Metairie
3461 E. Causeway Approach, Mandeville
4645 Freret St., New Orleans
6600 Franklin Ave., New Orleans
1644 Gause Blvd., Slidell
4001 General De Gaulle, New Orleans
4350 Hwy 22, Mandeville 1200 Hwy 190, Covington
3711 Power Blvd., Metairie
50 Park Place, Covington
91 West Bank Expwy., #600, Gretna 2900 Veterans Blvd., Metairie 4041 Williams Blvd., Kenner
4500 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans rouses.com
The Basin Lakeview 152 W Harrison Ave., New Orleans basinlakeview.com
The Country Club 634 Louisa St., New Orleans thecountryclubneworleans.com
Urban South 1645 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans urbansouth.com
Making history
by Will Coviello
BRITTANY CARNEY WROTE FOR SNL WEEKEND UPDATE co-host Michael Che’s HBO series “That Damn Michael Che” and for “Teenage Euthanasia” on Adult Swim. But her 2024 half-hour comedy special, “That Is My Horse,” derives from a much more obscure TV show.
Carney grew up in Japan, where her mother is from. While visiting Tokyo recently, she found herself watching a public TV show offering Japanese to German language instructions.
She finds that the former Axis powers have a lot in common, including in bathroom etiquette. She also marvels at the technological innovations of Japanese toilets.
“A lot happened after the war,” she offers as a deadpan summary.
Carney returns to New Orleans to perform at Sports Drink on Saturday, Aug. 16, and she’s working on material for a new special, some of it in her wheelhouse of unpredictable observations and mesmerizing halting delivery.
Carney lives in New York, and many of her projects were the results of people, like Michael Che, seeing her perform at clubs like the Comedy Cellar. During the pandemic, she also filmed a short set for the “Comedy Central: Featuring” series.
Her path to the New York comedy scene was anything but conventional. Carney was born in Japan, and except for a few years in Singapore, didn’t live in the U.S. until the ninth grade. After earning a master’s degree in history, she started working in museums, designing educational programs for visitors and school groups. She worked at Smithsonian institutions including the National Museum of American History and the National Portrait Gallery.
At times, she posted humorous riffs on Facebook about things she found in her research, mostly for historian friends. Early posts included one on what London scientists wanted to know about the botany of the colonies before the Revolution and pressing questions like, “What does a buffalo look like?”
But she was interested in more mainstream comedy and eventually tried an open mic in Washington, D.C.
She started making monthly trips to New York to perform and eventually moved there. She was booked at comedy festivals around the country and Rhizome Comedy reached out, interested in filming her in a special. In “That Is My Horse,” she jokes about everything from the translation bit that gives the special its name to a Santa Claus roleplay — or “Clausplay” — going off script. She also notes the serendipitous arrival of Black Hobbits in the Shire in Amazon’s “The Rings of Power” series. And there are some more jokes about very long German words for bathroom etiquette.
Carney doesn’t speak German, but in addition to Japanese and English, she’s picked up some French, Mandarin and Arabic.
“A week before I did my first open mic, I went to the place,” Carney says. “A guy from the club recognized me. I asked him, ‘How do you describe D.C. audiences?’ He said, ‘They’re overly educated and overly miserable.’ ”
That translated as they’ll get all the references, but they don’t know if they can laugh at edgy material, she says.
Though she likes the occasional language joke, she’s got no problem reaching different audiences. Her most recent performance in New Orleans was part of a short tour opening for Shane Torres. After shows in Jackson, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama, the audience at The Howlin’ Wolf was a lot less bro-y, she says. She was excited about exploring New Orleans’ historical sites and spooky stuff for Halloween, but the city had a different look.
“The Taylor Swift concerts took over the city,” she says. “Everything was purple and pink. Shane and I were joking that there’s no crossover with his comedy.”
Brittany Carney performs at 7 & 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. Tickets $32.36
PROVIDED PHOTO BY MIKE BRYK
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